The Department of Social Development in KwaZulu-Natal is tackling poverty and rural development through the rollout of One Stop Development Centres.
One Stop Development Centre concept goes national
The Department of Social Development is extremely proud that its concept of the One Stop Development Centre was been commended by the provincial legislature during the tabling of the 2010/11 departmental budget. The commendation comes after the recent adoption of the concept as a national programme by the national Department of Social Development.
Through this concept, the department continues to maximise the accessibility of its services to previously sidelined communities as One Stop Development Centres (in partnership with other stakeholders) provide holistic, inclusive, comprehensive and accessible social development services to communities in order to improve their quality of life.
Dr BM Radebe, the MEC for the department, says many people of the province have to walk long distances on empty stomachs to access social services and they are then often referred to other places for assistance. Through the establishment of these Centres, a full range of services will be easily accessed by children, unemployed women, older persons, youth, people with disabilities as well as families infected and affected by HIV and Aids.
‘I am pleased to announce that the concept of One Stop Development Centre has been adopted by the national Department of Social Development as a national programme. Our department has established six One Stop Development Centres and is in the process of establishing 27 more. These centres provide a variety of services which include early childhood development interventions, a centre for older persons, community care centres, home affairs, and social grants offered by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA). The department is on the verge of establishing a community garden for each centre in support of the One Home One Garden campaign driven by the Office of the Premier’, said Dr Radebe.
This concept has already yielded desirable results in mobilising previously under-resourced communities to form community-based organisations rendering social services to their local people with the assistance of government. This has prompted the department to convert some of its flagship projects into One Stop Development Centres and these include Bhambanana in Jozini, Qhudeni in Nquthu, Ezibayeni in KwaHlabisa and Fuduka in Louwsburg.
Poverty alleviation
In an effort to reduce poverty, the department has established more than 200 poverty alleviation projects and 375 sustainable-livelihood projects throughout the province. There are more than 1 200 people participating in these projects.
Mandate
The migration of the social security function to the newly established South African Social Security Agency has afforded the department the opportunity to build and strengthen its social development responsibility. This resulted in the department redefining its mandate.
The mandate of the Department of Social Development is to provide and ensure access to developmental social welfare services for the vulnerable groups of society, the poorest of the poor and the marginalised. These vulnerable groups are identified as children, women, youth, people with disabilities, older persons and people infected and affected by HIV and Aids.
The transformation from a welfare to a developmental social welfare approach has been core to the department since the adoption of the White Paper on Social Welfare in 1997. Many of the building blocks are available for this transformation and reflect the social development priorities both nationally and provincially.
Contact details
Key personnel
Meshack Radebe, MEC
Bheki Nkosi, Head of Department
Tel: +27 33 341 9600
(MEC’s office)
Fax: +27 33 341 9610
Physical address: 208 Hassen Haffejee, Pietermaritzburg 3201
Postal address: Private Bag X9144, Pietermartizburg 3200
Website: www.kznsocdev.gov.za
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